eBay Shuts Down TCGPlayer Syracuse Warehouse, Lays Off Union Workers To Move Authentication Ops To KY
UPDATE 5-29-25
TCGUnion-CWA is now calling for a boycott of TCGPlayer, hoping pressure will convince eBay to reverse course and keep Syracuse operation open.
🚨 EMERGENCY CALL TO ACTION: We are calling for a boycott of TCGplayer to demand that eBay keeps the Authentication Center open and keeps 200 unionized jobs in Syracuse. #LayoffEBay #GreedBay
— TCGunion-CWA (@TCGunionCWA) May 29, 2025
TCG enthusiasts: don’t buy your cardboard from TCGplayer. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/XQ13YkgeUt
UPDATE 5-26-25
TCGUnion-CWA says eBay has escalated intimidation and retaliation against union members, including threats of physical violence, stalking and harassment.
Syracuse, N.Y. – Security guards deployed by eBay at its Syracuse-based TCGplayer authentication center have created an oppressive atmosphere by physically and verbally harassing employees, according to reports from union workers inside the facility.
On Friday, eBay abruptly announced that it would be closing the authentication center, terminating the employment of hundreds of TCGunion-CWA Local 1123 members in an attempt to evade its bargaining obligations and to keep the company non-union.
Just minutes after the closure announcement took place, dozens of unidentified security guards entered the building, watching doors, following workers into breakrooms and watching restrooms, and using physical force against workers. Guards have told workers that they were getting paid hourly to “beat on people,” while also using misogynistic language in the office.
A particularly disturbing report involves an eBay representative physically grabbing and verbally harassing a union member as he attempted to clean out his locker. The eBay representative followed the member from the building, accused him of trespassing, and threatened to call the police. The union member was then placed on administrative leave.
“Deploying security guards to stalk us immediately after letting us know that we would all be losing our jobs is psychological warfare,” said Zach Freeman, eBay worker and TCGunion-CWA Local 1123 member. “By unleashing this brutal surveillance and intimidation campaign, TCGplayer and eBay are doing everything in their power to punish us for exercising our federally-protected rights to organize.”
TCGunion-CWA Local 1123 will be joined by local labor leaders and elected officials at a rally denouncing eBay’s closure announcement and relentless union-busting campaign outside the TCGplayer authentication center in Syracuse on Tuesday, May 27 at 6PM ET.
WHAT: eBay/TCGplayers workers and CWA Local 1123-TCGunion members rally to denounce eBay’s closure announcement and relentless union-busting campaign
WHEN: Tuesday, May 27, 6PM ET
WHERE: TCGplayer headquarters, 440 S Warren St. Syracuse, NY 13202
WHO: TCGunion-CWA Local 1123 workers, labor organizations, elected officials, and supporters
UPDATE 5-23-25
CWA has issued a statement on eBay's abrupt decision to close the Syracuse TCGPlayer authentication center, condemning what they say is an illegal action taken by the company to avoid bargaining with the union for which they have filed yet another unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board.
The union also called out the fact that eBay CEO Jamie Iannone's ~$21M compensation in 2024 is 536x the average salary of the 200+ workers whose employment is being terminated.
This morning, eBay subsidiary TCGplayer abruptly announced plans to shut down its authentication center in Syracuse, N.Y., eliminating the jobs of hundreds of union workers who have been bargaining their first contract with the company.
In response, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) has filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) alleging that the company has terminated its union employees to evade its bargaining obligations and to keep the company union-free...
...TCGplayer CEO Rob Bigler called a meeting to announce the news at 8:30 a.m. ET this morning, and workers were then ordered by security to vacate the building until Saturday. Bigler did not take any questions.
According to eBay’s most recent proxy statement, eBay CEO Jamie Iannone’s total compensation was $21 million in 2024, which is 536 times the median annual wage for a TCGunion-CWA member in Syracuse earning $18.25 an hour.
Iannone's compensation has also increased 48% since 2022, the year that TCGplayer workers formed their union. The growing disparity between the backbone of the workplace and the oligarchs who take advantage of their labor was further emphasized in a recent Economic Policy Institute report showing that Americans’ sentiment toward unions continues to become more positive, while sympathy for large corporations is at a record low.
TCGPlayer CEO Robert Bigler broke the news internally via email, blaming space constraints that supposedly limited growth potential, causing the authentication center to operate at a loss which the company believes can only be turned around by consolidating with existing eBay operations.
It's of course noteworthy that eBay's other authentication facilities in New York, New Jersey, or Nevada were apparently not previously considered and the decision to consolidate was only made after eBay opened a new facility in a lower wage, right to work state - raising questions about whether other warehouses may soon be deemed "in need" of similar consolidation.
It's also interesting that the email mentions TCGPlayer offices will also be closing, not just the authentication center - though apparently only authentication workers were informed of layoffs today, leaving room for the possibility of additional cuts to come.
The office complex where TCGPlayer is currently the largest tenant went up for bid in February, prompting some to speculate eBay might look to purchase the location outright, but at the time I believed that was highly unlikely for several reasons and predicted the company was more likely to be looking to make a move.
Liz Morton
Bigler also sent an official notice to the Union and provided employees with an official WARN notice and guidelines spelling out severance arrangements.
TCGUnion-CWA has also started a petition and is asking supporters to share on social media using the hashtag #StandUpToEbay
eBay is laying off over 200 unionized workers at their collectible trading card marketplace subsidiary TCGPlayer in Syracuse, New York and will be moving authentication operations to new facility in Louisville, Kentucky.
Instagram account Syracusehistory posted an image of an email sent to TCGPlayer sellers today, confirming the move to eBay's newest authentication facility in Louisville, KY.
"This was a difficult decision," TCGplayer said in the message. "We recognize the near-term impact it will have on our employees, their families and the community, we are dedicated to taking care of our people during the transition."
eBay acquired TCGPlayer in October 2022 in a ~$295 Million deal which initially left founder CEO Chedy Hampson and other key management in place, despite a history of strained labor relations which led to a previous unsuccessful union drive in March 2020 that received national media attention and public support from Senator Bernie Sanders.
It was largely missed by media and analysts, but unsuckEBAY noted at the time that in-house authentication at TCGPlayer and previously acquired Sneaker Con operations were a "significant step-change" for the company as it departed from the asset light, "just a venue" model that had previously protected it from unionization efforts which had targeted competitors like Amazon.
The previous unionization efforts and ongoing labor issues raised questions about due diligence and disclosure in the TCGPlayer acquisition and what the implications could be for eBay's other labor centric operations, leading both Hampson and eBay Chief Accounting Officer Brian Doerger to step down from their positions with no official explanation and less than two weeks notice.
Liz Morton
The workers won their vote in March 2023, officially becoming the first US union in eBay history.
Liz Morton
But eBay did not take the win lightly and has spent almost 2 years union busting and delaying bargaining a contract, with TCGUnion-CWA filing multiple unfair labor practice charges against the company with the National Labor Relations Board along the way, including alleging illegal surveillance & benefits changes and pregnancy discrimination.
Liz Morton
eBay hired Kristi Selby as their new Head Of Labor Relations last year, and has been putting the union-avoidance and delaying tactics she ostensibly learned in her decade plus stint at Nestle to good use dragging out the bargaining process with TCGUnion-CWA.
Liz Morton
The TCGPlayer acquisition has also brought additional regulatory scrutiny on eBay, which is still under a 3 year compliance monitoring program as part of a deferred prosecution agreement with the DOJ after being criminally charged in connection to the 2019 cyberstalking of journalists Ina and David Steiner of EcommerceBytes.
Liz Morton
Amanda Lewis, Co-Founder of the Responsible Online Commerce Coalition, filed filed a petition with the Federal Trade Commission in early 2024, calling for an investigation into the acquisition for alleged violations of the FTC Act and federal antitrust law.
Liz Morton
The petition on behalf of ROCC member DJ Johnson and other 3rd party sellers cites “serious concerns about eBay/TCGplayer’s apparently deceptive and anticompetitive conduct” including illegal monopoly maintenance, anticompetitive rollups, and overcharging sellers and consumers through unfair and deceptive “junk fees.”
ROCC also called out eBay for conflicts of interest due to directly selling on their own platform under the TCGPlayer name with no disclosure to consumers or the third party sellers the company is now competing directly against.
The FTC under Chair Lina Khan did not make any formal or public response to that ROCC petition, which was disappointing by not surprising given the close connection that Khan and others at the Commission had to eBay founder Pierre Omidyar.
If you're wondering why you may not have heard about eBay's labor problems or weren't aware the company even had a unionized workforce, look no further than eBay's own admitted crisis comms strategies of seeking to hire people with a history of "preventing high-impact media coverage."
Liz Morton
eBay eventually filled that Crisis & Financial Communications role with internal promotion of Maddy Martinez, who previously handled comms & corporate affairs at TCGPlayer - an interesting choice since this acquisition has been one of the main sources of "crisis" at the company in recent years, aside from the cyberstalking scandal and ongoing related lawsuit.
Also of note, Pierre Omidyar's vast philanthropic efforts through Omidyar Network and other non-profits have been strategically funding freelance journalists for years through their Reporters in Residence program, focusing on big-picture economic issues and "Reimagining Capitalism" including "The Future of Workers and Work."
This program has awarded several grants to labor journalists with a specific focus on Worker Power like Kim Kelly, Hamilton Nolan, s.e. smith, and Brian Merchant - all of whom appear to have been curiously quiet about the first union in eBay's ~30 year history and ongoing labor troubles at the company.
eBay founder Pierre Omidyar's Omidyar Network opens Summer 2025 Reporters In Residence, offering freelance journos opportunity to "devote more time to deep, nuanced reporting that drives national conversations & informs policy debates" w/~$50k stipend.📰https://t.co/PhJ5WjToDJ pic.twitter.com/zpxxmRCsrw
— Liz Morton ~ Value Added Resource (@ValueAddedRS) May 3, 2025
The move is unfortunately not surprising - when I first learned of the new Kentucky facility last month, it was clear it was part of a strategy to take labor-centric authentication operations out of union-friendly New York to a lower cost of living/lower wage, right to work state as eBay continues to face lingering labor troubles, including multiple lawsuits filed by ex-employees alleging violations of New York Labor Laws, discrimination, and retaliation.
Liz Morton
An eBay spokesperson told WSYR-TV News “We are constantly evaluating our authentication capabilities and logistics footprint to ensure we are offering best-in-class service to our customers. As a result, TCGplayer is closing its Syracuse Authentication Center to consolidate operations within an eBay logistics center in Kentucky. This was a difficult decision. We recognize the near-term impact it will have on our employees, their families and the Syracuse community, and we are dedicated to taking care of our people during this transition.”
Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh told WSYR-TV the announcement came as a total surprise to the city and he was disappointed they were not given any opportunity to work with eBay to try to save these jobs in their community.
It's really disappointing. My thoughts are immediately with the impacted employees. I'm frustrated that it came as a surprise to us.
You know we work every year with businesses that may be going through some difficult times, may need to reconsider where they're located and and we work really hard to help retain existing businesses and the fact that we didn't have an opportunity to do that is really disappointing but we're going to work real hard with our partners to make sure those that are impacted have opportunities because there's a lot of them.
As I've said before you know these types of announcements don't happen nearly as much as they used to but they still hurt when they do and we'll be ready to rally around those employees and get them back to work.
And local leaders slammed the move as "retaliatory, vindictive union busting" with Chris Ryan, who represented TCGPlayer workers in their union bid before being elected to the State Senate, having some strong words for eBay.
Christopher J. Ryan
I wish they never even took it over. It's yet another example of a multinational company coming in, acquiring a business, taking the life out of it, leaving the workers and the community behind and going someplace else.
As of time of reporting, a WARN notice has not been posted to the New York State Department of Labor, but the cuts will impact over 200 authentication workers at the company with the first tranche of layoffs affecting employees hired after July 1, 2021 on June 20th and a second tranche for the rest of the affected employees on July 18th, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Stay tuned for updates in this developing story.
